The present invention relates generally to plastic fasteners and more particularly to devices used in the dispensing of plastic fasteners.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,078 to A. R. Bone, which is incorporated herein by reference, there are disclosed several different types of plastic fasteners, or attachments, which are fabricated as part of continuously connected ladder stock. In each instance, the fastener has an H-shape, and the ladder stock is formed from two elongated and continuous plastic side members coupled together by a plurality of plastic cross links, the cross links preferably being equidistantly spaced. The stock may be produced from flexible plastics material including nylon, polypropylene and other similar materials by molding or by stamping.
Either manually or with the aid of specifically designed devices, individual fasteners may be dispensed from a supply of ladder stock to couple buttons to fabric, merchandising tags to articles of commerce, or, in general, any two desired articles.
Specifically designed devices for dispensing plastic fasteners are well known in the art. In use, plastic fastener dispensing devices sever individual plastic fasteners from continuously connected ladder stock and attach the severed individual plastic fasteners to the items to be coupled.
For example, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,366, which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a device for dispensing plastic attachments of the type which are formed as part of a roll of continuously connected ladder stock. In one embodiment, the device includes a pair of hollow slotted needles each having a tip, a rear end and a longitudinal axis. A feed wheel, placed proximate to the rear ends of the pair of needles, is used to feed individual attachments of a roll of ladder stock into the pair of needles through their respective rear ends at angles relative to the longitudinal axes thereof. Once inserted into the needles, an attachment is severed from the remainder of the ladder stock by a knife and is then expelled from the needles by a pair of ejector rods movable along the longitudinal axes of the pair of needles. Because attachments are fed into the pair of needles at angles relative to their longitudinal axes, no shuttling of the needles between an attachment feeding position and an attachment ejecting position is required. The pair of needles, the feed wheel, the knife, and the pair of ejector rods are all mounted on a vertically movable head member. An electric motor assembly is used to move the head member between an attachment dispensing position and a withdrawal position. The vertical movement of the head member drives the operation of the feed wheel, the knife and the ejector rods.
In one type of plastic fastener dispensing device which is well known in the art, the plastic fastener dispensing device is mounted directly onto a flat work surface, such as a table, and the operator is required to manually urge the items to be coupled together against the sharpened tip of each hollow slotted needle until each needle penetrates through the items. Once each needle has penetrated through the items, the device is activated. Activation of the device dispenses a plastic fastener through each needle so as to secure the items together. As can be appreciated, such plastic fastener dispensing devices are commonly used in the art to couple together two or more items, such as socks, gloves, towels or the like. Furthermore, it should be noted that, when used to secure together two or more items for sale, plastic fasteners are commonly referred to as elastic staples in the art.
It should be noted that the use of a plastic fastener dispensing device of the type described above to tightly secure together two or more items for sale using one or more elastic staples provides numerous advantages.
As a first advantage, plastic fastener dispensing devices of the type described above are capable of continuously dispensing elastic staples from a roll of fastener stock. As a result, the continuous feed of elastic staples into the plastic fastener dispensing device increases the productivity in which an operator is able to secure together products for sale, which is highly desirable. It is for this reason that plastic fastener dispensing devices of the type described above are commonly used on assembly lines for packaging products.
As a second advantage, the use of elastic staples to secure together two or more items for sale creates aesthetic benefits, which is highly desirable. Specifically, the use of elastic staples enables the products for sale to be neatly and securely fastener together in an ideal packaging to enable a potential customer to see, feel and manipulate the product at the point of purchase. Furthermore, it has been found that the elastic staple is barely visible when securing together two or more products for sale.
As a third advantage, the elasticity of the staple allows for the fastener to be used in a wide range of applications and in conjunction with a variety of differently sized products, which is highly desirable.
As a fourth advantage, the elasticity of the staple allows for the fastener to conform tightly against the products for sale, thereby creating a strong and durable attachment of the products, which is highly desirable. As a result, the products remain securely fastened together until after purchase.
Although well known and widely used in the art for securing together products for sale, plastic fastener dispensing devices which require an operator to urge the products against the one or more hollowed needles suffer from a couple notable drawbacks.
As a first drawback, plastic fastener dispensing devices which require an operator to urge the products against one or more hollowed needles fail to adequately protect the operator from inadvertently contacting the sharpened tip of each needle, which is highly undesirable.
As a second drawback, plastic fastener dispensing devices which require an operator to urge the products against one or more hollowed needles fail to adequately support, or stiffen, each needle. As a result, each needle is susceptible to bending and breaking when inserted through the items to be coupled, which is highly undesirable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved system for dispensing a plastic fastener from a reel of fastener stock to couple together two or more items.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system as described above which includes a hollowed needle having a sharpened tip, the needle enabling the plastic fastener to pass through the items to be coupled together.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system as described above which protects the operator from inadvertently contacting the sharpened tip of the hollowed needle.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system as described above which adequately supports, or stiffens, the hollowed needle.
It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a system as described above which has a limited number of parts, which is easy to use and which is inexpensive to manufacture.
Accordingly, there is provided a system for dispensing a plastic fastener from a reel of fastener stock to couple together two or more objects, said system comprising a frame, a hollowed needle having a sharpened tip, a feed mechanism for advancing the fastener stock into said hollowed needle, a severing mechanism for severing the fastener to be dispensed through said hollowed needle from the fastener stock, an ejection mechanism for ejecting the severed fastener through said hollowed needle, and a needle guard slidably mounted onto said frame over said hollowed needle.
Various other features and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration, a specific embodiment for practicing the invention. This embodiment will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The following detailed description is therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.